Poof

Vanessa looked around nervously, then immediately regretted it as she was reminded of the viewers and cameras. She coughed, and made a rather weedy gesture with one hand as the miniature of the city set slid onto stage around her.

A town hall bumped rather heavily into her shin. She jumped up, and almost missed the belltower that slid past her and started pulling her half-dress to the side, high enough that her sex could be glimpsed for a moment before she snatched her dress back, blushing.

"Where, er, where are you, hero?" she couldn't bring herself to shout.

She gestured with her free hand again, pointing to a point over to the right. Nothing happened. Vanessa whimpered. Of all the times for a scene to be dragged out...

"The town will burn until I find-"

She gestured again, waiting for the answering explosion. Instead, a plume of fire shot up to her left, making her cry out and stagger away, and then cry out again as she realized her dress had caught fire.

"Oh god, ahh, ahh!" she screamed, panicking, stepping back.

She tripped over a cut-out of a house, backing away still, dragging herself along the ground. More of the cardboard city started to catch fire.

It was a few more seconds before a handful of crew rushed onto the stage and sprayed everything down with a fire extinguisher, the backdrop and the dress alike, some of the foam reaching Vanessa's legs. She looked up, eyes wide, breathless. And then realized she was still naked and screamed again.

Carefully, Vanessa got back up to her feet. As the stagehands departed, she took a careful step into the fray, foot nudging the ashes that remained of her dress. She swallowed and looked up, staring nervously at the audience with nothing but her arms for modesty.

Well, technically the Enchantress got stilletos, unlike the barefoot fairy, but her feet really weren't her main concern just then.

She straightened, shaking a little. Then she waggled her little finger, from where it rested in the crook of her other arm's elbow, refusing to move either arm so much as an inch lest more be bared. She bit her lip.

"DoyounotcareforthefatesofthosearoundyouhereheroofferyourselftothefirecomeanddieohIshouldgobacktothecastleohokbye," Vanessa babbled all of her lines out in one frantic dress, and almost tripped over another house as she sidestepped her way back to the window.

She didn't even pretend to fly through it this time, instead crouching on the far side of it, using the set for cover.

It slowly slid back into place. She squealed and hurried after it, as the throne room set again filled the stage.

Robert came onstage, and in a few moments so too did Chris, the heroic knight of the tale. He did a double-take to see Vanessa cowering where she was.

"Enchantress," Robert began. Clang. he groaned, pulled off his helmet, and threw it away. There was an 'ow' from offstage. "The hero is almost-" he glanced at Chris. "The hero is here."

"E-excellent," Vanessa stammered.

Oh god, was she really meant to get through the rest of the play like this?

"You wanted to face him, my warrior," Vanessa said. She took a deep breath, shaking slightly. The window was slender, not offering much cover at all, her body visible either side of it. "Do so, for my entertainment, show him the power of evil!"

She glanced out again, blushed, and stumbled her way over to the throne. She crouched behind it, the flimsy wood all that was between her and the audience.

There couldn't be much more of this!